The Adventure
by Mrs-diAngelo25
Summary: Kyra Hale is just an average teenage girl with family issues. She meets Nico di Angelo and he turns her world upside-down with shocking news. Rated T for cussing. Part 1 in my fanfic series!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

Today, my brother, John, and his fiancée, Callie, are getting married. Everything was just as perfect as it could be! Callie was getting her hair and makeup done while John was getting pictures made with his groomsmen. The decorations were all done and perfectly pink and green. Everybody was happy and excited for the young couple! Everybody except me, John's younger sister.

Let me introduce myself. I'm Kyra Hale. I basically look like my mom when she was a teenager; green eyes, chocolaty brown hair, and tan skin. I live on the outer edge of Baltimore, Maryland in a big, red brick, two-story house with my mom and stepfather. I'm almost fifteen and my life pretty much sucks.

The only things that are actually _good_ about it are my pottery classes (that are in the better part of downtown Baltimore), my best friend Mo (who takes pottery class with me), and my pottery teacher Anne-Marie. My mom, Michelle, can be okay most of the time, but she tends to get on my nerves and hurts my feelings without meaning to every once and a while.

She has dark brown hair and green eyes and perfect skin, like me. She's a stay at home mom since Lucas, my stepfather, hauls it in working as a neurosurgeon at the Baltimore Hospital. Lucas is a good guy, I guess. He has blonde hair, blue eyes, and fare skin.

We don't talk that much, but he's a good guy and he's good to my mom and I. There's also my older brother John. He's very tall and has fare skin and freckles, dark auburn hair, and eyes you can never really tell the color of. He's a PTA at the Baltimore Hospital.

He was the best person ever until Callie came into his life. She basically brain washed him into liking her with her big boobs (which I'm pretty sure she had work on) and her sickly sweet and innocent voice. But when John is out of hearing range she turns into the evil bitch that she truly is. I guess you can tell I don't like her.

I'm not in the wedding, as you would think, or even in nice clothes for the wedding. Nope. I'm wearing ripped, faded, skinny, blue jeans with my favorite, blue, vintage tee from Old Navy and my classic hi-top converse. I was walking around the church feeling incredibly out of place and not knowing what to do when somebody called my name. I looked over my shoulder and saw my mom.

My mother came up to me and shouted, "Kyra! I thought you said you brought _nice_ clothes to wear!"

"These _are_ nice clothes." I retorted.

"You should know better. They may be nice clothes to wear to around town or to the mall, but not to your brother's wedding." she scolded.

"I guess I'll just have to hide in a closet until the wedding is over so my family won't be embarrassed by me." I exploded, feeling slightly hurt by her harsh tone.

"I didn't say you needed to hide in a closet or that the family would be embarrassed by you." she says, exasperated.

"Really? Because you definitely made it sound like that!" I yell, fighting off angry tears.

"I-never mind. There's no use in fighting about it. I had a feeling you'd do this so I brought a dress for you. Why don't you go into the sanctuary and see if the rose petals are all scattered evenly." she suggested.

"Okay, I get it. I'm not wanted right now. I'll go hide in that closet I was talking about." I say, dejectedly, feeling the tears threatening to spill.

* * *

I went into the sanctuary, but I didn't make sure the rose petals were "scattered evenly". No, I went straight to the floral closet, put in my earbuds and listened to Green Day while the hot tears slid down my cheeks.

_'My life sucks. Everybody hates me just because I want to be a little different.'_ I think.

The closet light flickers on. I quickly wipe away the tears and look up to see a teenage guy around my age. Maybe a little older than me even.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to intrude." he apologizes.

"No problem. I was just trying to get away from all the craziness." I assure him.

"Oh, okay. Well, do you know where I can find Kyra Hale?" he asks.

I sigh._ 'What did I do now? Is it suddenly a crime to cry in the dark? And how does this guy know my name?'_ I think.

"I'm Nico di Angelo." he says, sensing that I was suspicious.

I studied him more closely now. He has shaggy, black hair, dark brown eyes, and pale olive skin. He's wearing black, ripped skinny jeans, a black tee shirt with a skull on it, an old aviator's jacket, black Converse hi-tops, and a silver skull ring. I find him dark and sort of scary, but kind of intriguing and mysterious at the same time. I wanted to know more about this mysterious guy.

"I'm Kyra. What do you want?" I ask, suspiciously.

"Yes! I found you!" Nico whooped.

"What do you mean "found me"?" I ask, confused.

"Oh, yea. Sorry. Is your mom or dad around?" he asks.

"My mom is in the sanctuary doing last minute preparations." I tell him.

"Let's go find her. I need to speak with her." Nico says.

* * *

I led Nico to the sanctuary glancing at him out the corner of my eye every once in a while.

_'Who is this guy? How the hell does he know my name? And why does he want to talk to my mom?'_ These questions floated through my mind while we walked to the sanctuary.

I walked in, with Nico, and found mom frantically placing rose petals.

"There you are!" she exclaims when she sees me.

"Hey mom. Um, this is Nico. He said he needs to talk to you." I say.

"Hello, Ms. Hale. I'm Nico di Angelo. Is there a more private place we can talk?" Nico asks.

"Um, sure." mom says, slightly confused.

At that moment Callie burst through the doors in a pink robe looking like an angry witch. Her face was all puffed up and red like she had been rubbing her face against a brick wall for an hour. Her hair was sticking out in all different directions like she had stuck her finger in a electrical outlet.

"I don't care what you said Ally! This is a disaster!" Callie rages.

"I don't know why your hair is sticking up or why you had an allergic reaction to the makeup. It's the same stuff you told me to use!" Ally defends herself.

Ally was Callie's older sister. They looked very similar, but Ally was prettier, in my opinion, and she was _a lot_ nicer.

Then they walk out as quickly as they had come in. As if they just wanted somebody to hear them.

**A/N:**

**Re-editing because I was looking over this story the other day and thought to myself, "****_God. That's terrible. There are SO MANY mistakes. I need to change that and that and that..." _****I think you get the point.**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

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Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

After Callie and Ally left, mom, Nico, and I went to the church kitchen.

"Okay, what's this about?" she asks.

"Ms. Hale, the time has come where Kyra has to come to camp." Nico replies.

Her face pales and her eyes widen. I was even more confused than before if that was possible.

_'Why the hell do I need to go to a camp? Not that I'd have a problem with that, but still' _I think.

"Oh, my. Kyra get in the car, we need to go home and get you packed." she orders.

"Where am I going? What the hell is going on!" I cry.

"Kyra, have you ever heard of Greek gods?" Nico asks, turning to look at me.

"Yea. I studied all about them a few months ago for school. What does that have to do with this?" I question.

"It has _everything_ to do with this. You're a demigod." Nico says, his tone completely serious.

"What?!" I exclaim, incredulous.

"How long until the wedding ends Ms. Hale?" Nico asks, turning back to look at my mom.

"Guests should start arriving in about fifteen to twenty minutes. The bride and groom have to get going for their honeymoon in about two and a half hours." she says, checking her watch.

"Okay. We can wait until everyone leaves." he says.

"You never answered my first question. Where am I going?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"You're going to Camp Half-Blood. It's in Long Island, New York. It's a safe place for people like you and me." he replies.

"I've tried to keep you close to me Kyra. But, the time has come where you have to train." my mom says, a sad look in her eyes.

"But-" I stop because Lucas, my stepfather, comes into the kitchen.

"There you are! I've been looking _everywhere_ for you Michelle. The guests are starting to arrive. We need to get out there." Lucas says.

"Okay, I'll be out there in a minute, honey." she replies.

"Oh, and Kyra, Mo just got here and he wanted to talk to you." Lucas says.

"Okay, I'm coming." I say.

"Nico, come on." I say, waving for him to follow me.

"Oh! Kyra, your dress is in the kindergarten class room. I want you to change into it before you do _anything_ else." mom says.

"Fine. But I'm _not_ wearing those heels you brought." I tell her.

With that, we all leave the kitchen.

* * *

I run into my best friend, Mo, while coming out of the bathroom. I was wearing a _really_ uncomfortable dress my mom had gotten me.

Before I get any farther, let me tell you a little about Mo. He's my best friend and we get into all kinds of trouble. We've been going to pottery class together for about two years now. The day we met in class, we were instantly best friends. He's a bit queer, like me, and we do all kinds of crazy things. Usually after school we walk around downtown Baltimore together or walk to the mall. He has black, curly hair that falls just above his eyebrows, violet eyes, and tanish skin. You can easily get mesmerized by his eyes if you're not careful. Trust me! But he's always got my back and I always have his.

"My God, Mo!" I exclaim, getting some dirty looks from some of the guests.

"There you are! Lucas told me you were in the kitchen." Mo says.

"Well, I _was_ in the kitchen but then mom made me change into this _thing_." I explain, gesturing to the green dress.

It was a simple, above the knee, strapless dress. It started out a pine green at the bottom and slowly faded to a mint green at the top. I had refused to wear the white high heels so I was wearing my converse with the dress. In my opinion, I thought it looked really cute.

"You look good. I like the shoes." Mo says, smirking.

"Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to sit together?" he asks.

"Sure. Come on Nico!" I call to Nico, who was standing nearby.

"Great! Wait, who's Nico? Is this a new boyfriend that I don't know about?" Mo questions, arching an eyebrow.

"Good God! No!" I exclaim, blushing slightly and getting more dirty looks.

I look behind me and at Nico. He was leaning against the wall and his cheeks had turned a slight pinkish color.

"No, Nico is um, a friend." I tell Mo.

"Oh, cool." he says.

Together, the three of us went into the sanctuary, waiting for the wedding to start.

**A/N:**

**And there's chapter 2! I know, I know. Nico blushed. He actually ****_blushed. _****I promise, he's not going to be all bashful and blushing throughout the whole story. You must be patient my grasshoppers...**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

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Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

After the wedding, I had to stay and help clean things up a bit so it wouldn't be quite so much for the church janitor. Therefore, Nico had to stay too. He wasn't very pleased about it but he stayed anyway because he claimed he had orders from camp to "keep an eye on" me.

* * *

Once we threw away all the paper decorations, I went and changed back into my jeans and tee shirt. I felt much better after that. Then we gathered all our things, packed them in the car, and started for home.

It was an awkward ride home since Nico was with us. I guess Lucas assumed he was one of my friends who coming home with us. We couldn't discuss the whole being a demigod thing because Lucas was in the car. So we just waited until we got home. He got called into work after we got back so he changed into his scrubs and left for the hospital.

I left Nico and mom in the living room and started packing my duffle bag with necessities. Once I got everything packed, I was ready to go. I went out and found mom and Nico sitting at the kitchen table drinking lemonade and eating chocolate chip cookies.

"Hey. Ready to go?" Nico asks.

"Yea. I think I got everything." I answer.

"Cool. We should get going then. Thanks for the snack Ms. Hale!" Nico says.

"Mom, aren't you coming?" I asked, slightly confused as to how we were going to get there if she wasn't driving.

"Nope. I'm staying here." she replies. I could tell she was trying really hard not to cry.

"Then how-" I started to ask but Nico cuts me off.

"Shadow travel. I'm a son of Hades so I can travel through shadows. I can also bring a person with me." he answers my unfinished question.

"That's so cool!" I exclaim.

"Yea. It is." he says, a smug look on his face.

"Here's the rules though; don't let go of my arm under any circumstances and don't freak out." he says.

"Okay" I say. Seemed simple enough.

I hugged my mom goodbye. I grab my duffle bag and swing it over my shoulder. Nico takes my hand and we start running into a shadow that was in an unlit corner of the house.

* * *

My impression of shadow traveling-horrifying! It's cold, pitch black, and you're going so fast you feel like your skin is being peeled off your face. Thank God it only lasted a few seconds!

As soon as we had stepped into the shadow we were out again in a bright, big house. I found myself clinging to Nico's arm for dear life. He looked over at me and smirked. I let go of his arm, give him a face, and readjust the strap on my duffle.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood!" a middle-aged man says.

He was sitting in a wheel chair, a blanket draped over his legs. He has curly brown hair and was wearing an old tweed jacket.

"I see Nico did his job quite well by finding and bringing a demigod here in one piece" the man chuckles.

"I'm Chiron, the activities director." he says.

"Kyra Hale." I say, shaking his hand.

"Now, I know what you're going to say. 'How can you be the activities director when you're in a wheelchair?' Well, I'll show you if you'll step out onto the porch with me." Chiron says.

So, I do and what he does next amazes me. Chiron started getting out of the wheel chair but he wasn't human. From the waist up he _looked_ human, but from the waist down he was a gleaming stallion.

"You're-you're a centaur!" I exclaim, looking up at him.

"Yes, quite, young one." Chiron laughs.

That's when I look at my surroundings. I'm pretty sure my mouth would have dropped to the ground with a 'clang' if it hadn't already been there.

I was standing on a huge wraparound porch. The camp looked like ancient Greece but not in ruins. From what I could see, there was a big white pavilion, with no roof, made out of marble. I assumed it was the mess hall because it had a bunch of huge dining tables in it.

There was also a circular arena and a lot of different cabins that formed a gigantic Greek omega shape farther down in the valley. There was a canoe lake looking out at Long Island Sound, a volley ball pit, a big rock wall that had, what looked like, lava pouring down the sides of it, a strawberry field, and last but not least, the vast woods.

"Wow" I breathe, taking in my surroundings.

"Quite something isn't it?" Chiron asks.

All I could do was nod in reply.

"You may leave you bag here for now, my dear. Nico why don't you show Kyra around?" Chiron suggests.

"Sure Chiron. Come on Kyra. I want you to meet some friends." Nico calls as he heads down the stairs.

**A/N:**

**I tried writing Chiron as best as I could to match him. I'm sorry if he seems a little OOC to some of you.**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

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Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

"And there's the cabins" Nico finishes.

"This place is amazing!" I exclaim.

Throughout the whole tour I'm pretty sure my eyes were as big as dinner plates. Nico had told me that the camp didn't get any bad weather past the borders of the camp because of a protective enchantment around it. It only got snow in the winter. That's why there wasn't a roof on the mess hall.

"Yea. Since you haven't been claimed yet by your godly parent, you'll stay in the Hermes cabin." Nico says, pointing to the most normal looking cabin of them all.

It was a run down, log cabin with a caduceus (Hermes's symbol of power) above the door. It looked just like a normal summer camp cabin.

"I'd suggest keeping an eye on your things at all times in there." Nico says.

"What are you looking at?" I ask, noticing that he was looking above my head.

"Look up" he says.

I look up just in time to see a bright white orb floating above my head. There was a little, fiery sun on it in the middle of it, emitting a reddish glow.

"Well, you've been claimed." Nico states.

"And who is my dad?" I ask, gesturing for him to continue.

"Your dad is Apollo. God of the sun, archery, music, poetry, prophecy, and medicine." he answers.

"So, should I go get my bag and take it to my cabin?" I ask.

"Not yet. Your siblings are at archery class right now. We'll wait till they get back." he says.

"Let me introduce you to some people while we wait for them to get back." he says.

"Okay." I say.

* * *

So first Nico took me to a cabin that was facing the Sound. It was made of sandstone and had sea shells embedded in the rock. It was very simple, yet beautiful too. Nico knocks on the door and a guy's voice tells us to come in.

"Hey, Percy. This is Kyra. She's a daughter of Apollo." Nico introduces me.

"Hi Kyra. I'm Percy Jackson. Son of Poseidon." Percy says.

"Hi. It's nice to meet you." I say.

"So where are you from?" Percy asks.

"Baltimore, Maryland." I reply.

"That's cool. Do you go into the city a lot?" he asks.

"Yea. My friend, Mo, and I go there almost every day. It's not a very long walk from my house." I say.

"That's cool. I'm from New York City." he says.

He had black hair that almost fell just below his eyebrows and sea green eyes. He was really easy going, I guess you would say. He seemed like he'd make a good, trustworthy friend.

After I met Percy, Nico took me to a beautiful green and grey mosaic tiled cabin with an owl above the door.

We walked in and I saw that the bunk beds were all pushed up against the walls. There were huge bookshelves lining the back wall and blue prints and desks everywhere else. The room was very orderly. It seemed like everything had a place.

"Athena's cabin" Nico tells me.

Then he walks up to a blond girl and introduces us. Her name was Annabeth. She was very pretty, with her long, blond hair and dark gray eyes. They're like mini storm clouds. After we left, Nico told me that Percy and Annabeth are dating. I thought they made a good couple.

Then we went to a cabin that reeked of Hollister perfume and had hot pink curtains.

"Let me guess. Aphrodite?" I ask, trying not to gag.

"Yep." he confirms.

We walk in and he introduces me to a girl that was about seventeen or so. She had choppy, chocolate brown, hair with braids. She didn't wear makeup but she didn't need any. She radiated natural beauty.

"Piper McLean." she says, holding out her hand.

"Kyra Hale." I say.

"Good to meet you. It's always nice to have new campers!" she says, smiling at me.

After meeting Piper, we went to a big cabin that looked more like a bank than a cabin. It was made of marble and had columns. The door looked like it had a hologram of lightening striking down. It was obviously the Zeus cabin.

There was only one guy there. His name was Jason Grace. He had blond hair, bight blue eyes, and a little scar under his bottom lip. He and Piper were dating apparently.

The last cabin we went to was the Hephaestus cabin. It looked like a huge vault that had been steam-punked like crazy. The guy I met in there was named Leo Valdez. He had curly brown hair, and a crazy grin, as if warning you to not give him caffeine.

After meeting Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Jason, and Leo, we went back to the "Big House", as it's called, and got my bag and headed for the Apollo cabin.

**A/N:**

**I promise it gets more interesting in the next chapter!**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

When we got to the Apollo cabin, Nico introduced me to the head counselor of the cabin, Will Solace. Then he told me that he had some training to do but he'd catch up with me later.

Will gave me a choice of beds and I chose one that was near the cabin entrance. Then he showed me the big cedar chest at the end of my bed and told me that was where I stored my things.

I started unpacking and putting up pictures of me and Mo and Anne-Marie along with some of John, mom, and Lucas. I felt a little home sick looking at the pictures, but then it went away because camp felt like a second home already.

* * *

I had just finished putting everything up when Will came and got me. He told me it was time for dinner. The cabins lined up one by one from first to last. Then we were served anything we wanted as long as it was semi-healthy/organic.

To drink, you just told your cup what you wanted (non-alcoholic of course) and it would magically fill up and never run empty. I was amazed. Then, once we had served ourselves, we went to a brazier and threw the freshest strawberry or juiciest piece of meat into the fire as an offering to our godly parent.

Then you could say thanks or pray to them if you wanted. But when you threw a piece of food in the fire you had to say what god/goddess the burnt food was for. When I threw mine in I said, "For Apollo" then, silently, I thanked him for bringing Nico to me and getting me here safely. The smoke from the burnt food didn't smell bad at all. It smelled like sunshine and freshly cut grass.

Altogether it was a pleasant night. After dinner we walked along a path towards the campfire pit. We had s'mores there and they were delicious! Nico came and sat next to me. I was very aware of our hands bumping every once in a while throughout the campfire. I was glad it was dark because I'm pretty sure I was as red as a fire truck.

* * *

When the campfire was over, the campers started going to their cabins, but before I could go with my siblings, Nico caught my hand. That's when I realized we were the only ones there.

"Goodnight Kyra." he says, his voice quiet.

"Goodnight Nico" I say, slightly confused as to why he had wanted to say goodnight to me.

Then he did something totally unexpected. He leaned in and kissed me sweetly and softly. His lips were like marshmallows and he tasted like mint gum. I stood there in shock for a second then kissed back lightly.

The kiss deepened and he pulled me closer to him until we were pressed together. I had my hands tangled in his hair and he had his arms wrapped around me. We pulled away from each other, breathing heavily and both smiling. He walked me out and we went to our separate cabins.

* * *

I walked to the Apollo cabin in a daze thinking the whole time, _'Nico just kissed me, he has marshmallow lips, and he tastes like mint gum.'_

It was possibly the best feeling ever. My first kiss had been with the son of the Underworld. What would my mother say? I laughed at myself. I knew exactly what she'd say. "You're too young to have a boyfriend, much less kissing, young lady."

I reach the fountain and see Will leaning against it. I start to walk up to him. I couldn't help the goofy grin on my face. It was impossible to wipe it off my face.

"What took you so long?" Will asks.

"Just saying goodnight to a friend." I reply, happily, still smiling ear to ear.

Will just rolls his eyes and smiles.

"Yea. Sure. _That's_ what you were doing." he teases, putting his arm around my shoulders.

I then wondered if Nico and I had actually been alone by the pit. I blush bright red and say, "Were you _spying_ on me?"

"A big brother has to make sure his little sister stays out of trouble y'know." he says, smirking.

"Be careful with Nico, Kyra. He's a wild one." he warns me.

"Ugh! I can't believe you!" I moan, jokingly.

"You're just like John." I say.

"Who's John?" he asks.

"My brother. He got married today to a real bitch." I say, the distaste apparent in my tone.

"A real bitch, huh?" Will questions, obviously wanting to know more.

"I'll tell you tomorrow at archery" I say, yawning.

"It's been a very long day." I say.

"I agree" he says as we head up the steps and into the Apollo cabin.

**A/N:**

**THEY KISSED! I know, some of you might not be happy because I didn't drag it out longer to where they got to know each other better and become friends first. But, y'know, some people have a different way of going about these things. Maybe it was just an impulse that he kissed her, maybe not...**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

After that wonderful kiss with Nico and then going to bed just a few minutes after, you'd think that I'd have a pretty pleasant dream, right? Wrong.

My nightmare started like this. I was running and I could hear a slithering sound behind me. Mo was next to me and a satyr was on my other side. The satyr yelled at Mo to run faster.

We were on an old, country road and it was dawn. Cow pastures were to our right and the woods to the left. I could just see the crest of a hill with a big pine tree sticking out at the top towards the left of the road.

We had just reached the hill and ran past the pine tree. The pine had a dragon that was curled around it. The dragon was at least fifteen feet long and puffing smoke out of it's nose while it slept. On the lowest branch was the Golden Fleece.

The thing that had been chasing us gave an outraged roar and slithered away because it couldn't get past the magical borders of the camp. Then, a huge snake slammed against the border without success.

* * *

I woke with a start, sitting straight up in my bed and saying, "Mo!". I felt shaky and sweaty. Will was just coming out of the bathroom, showered and dressed, but stopped dead when he me saw me.

"What's wrong?" he asks, concerned.

"Is there a camper here named Mo Laths?" I ask him, my voice shaky.

"Not that I'm aware of." he says, coming over and sitting on my bed.

"Why?" he asks.

So, I told Will my dream about Mo and the satyr being chased by the huge snake.

Once I was done he was about to say something when a camper barged in and told us that a new camper had just gotten here.

Will jumped up and I ripped the sheets and blanket off of me. I pulled a pair of jean shorts and an orange camp tee-shirt out of my trunk and rushed to the bathroom.

I quickly took off my pajamas and put on my clothes. I brushed my short, choppy hair then I raced out of the bathroom. I throw my pajamas in my trunk and slip on my TOMS and rush outside, Will on my heels.

* * *

There was a huge crowd of campers at the big house. When I got there, I spotted the oh-so-familiar curly black hair. I pushed and elbowed my way through the crowd until I reached my best friend and swung my arms around him in a huge bear hug.

"Kyra?!" Mo says, incredulous.

"Mo! Oh my gods, I can't believe you're here!" I exclaim.

"You're a demigod too?" he asks, obviously very surprised.

"Yea. Nico came and found me yesterday and brought me here after the wedding." I explain.

"I just found out yesterday." I say.

"Wow. Can you um, let go of me Ky? I can't breathe." he gasps.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I say, quickly letting go of him.

"Kyra! What's going on here?" Nico elbows his way through the crowd.

He stops when he sees Mo. "Oh, I see. Didn't expect that one." he says, staring right above Mo's head.

I looked up to see a white orb had appeared above Mo's head, like I had yesterday. Except his had a bunch of grapes on his.

"What's everybody looking at?" Mo asks.

"You've been claimed, Mo" I tell him.

"Claimed? By who?" he asks.

"Dionysus. Your father. God of wine, parties, and insanity." Nico answers.

"Wait. Hold up. You're saying that my _dad_ is Dionysus. The Greek _god_ Dionysus?" Mo asks, shocked.

"Yep. Pretty much, Mo. My dad is Apollo." I say.

"Wow." he says, stunned.

"Mo, what exactly was chasing you?" Nico asks.

"It was a huge snake. My friend, Mark, came by yesterday around four and asked if he could talk to my mom. So I let him in and he told my mom that I had to go. My mom got really still and then nodded. She told me to go pack a backpack so I did." Mo explains.

"When I came out of my room, my mom told me I was going to a summer camp and that Mark was coming with me. She took us to the bus station and we got on a Greyhound to take us to New York City. Mark got really nervous on the bus so we got off at the next stop and walked for a long, long time. Maybe eight hours with we made it to a taxi-cab place and got a taxi to take us out into the country." he says.

"Well, we were about five miles away from here and the driver started to change. He got scaly and when he turned around he was a snake. Me and Mark jumped out of the taxi faster than lightning and ran for it. Then we finally made it here." he concludes. He looked really tired now after recounting the terrifying story.

"Come on. Back off young demigods" Chiron says, appearing out of nowhere.

"The lad needs some rest after his rough night." he says.

So I promised Mo that I'd see him later when he woke up. Then Nico took my hand and led me to the tool shed to pick a weapon.

**A/N:**

**Was anyone expecting Mo to be a demigod as well? **

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

There were so many weapons in the shed. I tried out a sword. It was too heavy. Then a spear. Too long. Then I tried out a club. _Way_ too bulky and awkward. Then my eyes fell upon a white gold bow. I picked it up and it felt right. It wasn't too heavy, long, or bulky and awkward. It was just perfect. When I didn't need it, it transformed into a white gold locket shaped like the sun. Even Nico agreed that it looked like it belonged to me. I also grabbed a bronze dagger. It's always a good idea to have a back up.

After finding my weapon, Nico walked me to archery practice. He kissed me right before I went in. It was the same sweet sensation I had had last night. Except today he didn't smell like camp fire smoke. He smelled of freshly fallen rain and Old Spice deodorant. My favorite two scents! After a couple of minutes of making out behind a tree that wasn't a dryad, I pulled away.

"You're going to make me late." I say, trying to be firm but giggling in the process.

He smirks. "Okay. But we're not finished." he says, walking off in the direction of the arena to help Percy teach sparring.

I managed to not be late, although all my siblings and the Athena cabin were already there. I found Will and stood next to him because I had promised I'd tell him about John and Callie today. He looked at me a bit funny when I walked up to him.

"What?" I ask him.

"Nothing. You just have something on your shoulder." he says.

I looked at my right shoulder and nearly screamed. Nico had given me a hickey during our make-out session. I'd have to talk to him about that after archery.

Will looks at me with barely controlled laughter.

"I told you he was a wild one" he says, in between chuckles.

"Whatever. I'll deal with him later today." I say.

"I promised to tell you about John and his bitch last night." I say.

"Oh yea! So tell me, how much of a bitch is she?" he asks, aiming an arrow.

"The biggest there is. She brain washed him with her fake boobs." I say, disgusted.

"Ah. Yea, I've dealt with some of those before-the bitch not the boobs!" he exclaims, his eyes widening.

I burst out laughing at that comment. That got him started all over again and soon we were both rolling on the ground struggling to get air into our lungs. Everybody stops what they're doing, even Chiron, and just look at us like we were crazy. Hell, we probably are but who cares when you're having a good time?

Once we get our laughter under control, we get up and start shooting arrows like crazy. Every one of Will's hit the bulls eye and almost all of mine were bulls eyes too.

After we were done, a horn blew, notifying everyone that it was time for lunch. The Apollo cabin and the Athena cabin filed out of the archery range and towards the mess hall.

**A/N:**

***snicker* Nico's such a naughty boy. **

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

After lunch, everybody went to their afternoon activities. I had free time so I went to the infirmary and saw that Mo had just woken up.

"Hey, sleepyhead." I say.

"Hey Ky!" he chirped, obviously in a much better mood than he had been in this morning.

"How are you feeling?" I ask, walking over to his bed.

"Much better now that I'm rested." he replies.

"That's great! You won't bel-" but I was cut off by Chiron coming into the room.

"Oh, hello Kyra. Glad to see you've composed yourself after that laugh in archery." he comments. Was he _smirking_ at me?

"What did you do?" Mo asks, a grin on his face.

"Will and I were talking about John and Callie" I say.

"I'll leave you two. I just came to see if Mo was awake. You can give him a tour when he's ready." Chiron says, clopping out of the infirmary.

"Okay Chiron." I say.

"So anyway, I was telling Will about them and how she brain washed him and he said, "'I've dealt with some of those before-A bitch not the boobs!'" It was hilarious! I started cracking up and before long we were both gasping for breath." I say, chuckling.

Mo laughs. "Hey, what happened to your shoulder?" he asks, noticing the mark Nico left after our two minute make-out session this morning.

"Oh. Um…" I say, feeling my cheeks burning.

"That's a hickey, isn't it?" Mo says, laughingly, and grinning like crazy.

I nod and he started full out laughing.

"Who gave it to you?" he asks, between laughs.

"Nico" I whisper.

"What did you say?" he asks, freezing.

"Nico gave it to me" I say, louder.

"Oh." he says, quietly.

"What's wrong?" I ask, noticing the sparkle has left his eyes.

"Nothing." he says, quickly.

"Um, what did Chiron say about a tour?" he asks.

"Okay. Are you ready to see the most beautiful place ever?" I ask him, still not sure what was on his mind.

"Sure. Help me up." he says, reaching his hands out toward me.

* * *

After I gave Mo the tour, I dropped him off with his two other siblings , Nathan and Stacy, at the Dionysus cabin and headed for the sword arena. I was pretty sure Nico and Percy would still be down there and it turns out that I was right.

I went down and when Nico saw me, the biggest smile came to his face. That smile melted me like butter, but first I needed to talk to him about the mark he left.

"What the hell did you do?" I ask, marching towards him.

"What do you mean?" he asks, the smile melting off his face.

"Oh, I think you know very well what I mean Nico." I say, pointing to my shoulder.

He smirks and says, "Ooh, _that_."

"Yea, "that"." I say.

"What are you two talking about?" Percy asks.

"He gave me damn hickey!" I say, pointing to Nico.

"Uh-uh. Where?" he asks, incredulous.

I pointed, again, to my shoulder. Percy tried his best not to laugh, but it didn't work.

"You will _never_ do that to me again!" I command.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry I did that. I just couldn't help myself, Ky." he says, giving me puppy dog eyes.

"I know. I'm just _so_ irresistible" I say, sarcastic.

* * *

"Hey guys, me and Annabeth are going to the beach in a few. Would you two like to come?" Percy asks as the we head out of the sword arena.

"I wouldn't pass up the chance at seeing you in a bikini." Nico says, turning to look at me.

"How did you know I packed a bikini?" I ask him.

"Just a guess" he replies.

"So is that a yes?" Percy asks, rolling his eyes at us.

"Yea. What time?" Nico asks.

"In like thirty minutes" Percy says.

"Okay. We'll be there" Nico says.

We went our separate ways to change. I got back to the Apollo cabin to find Will waiting for me.

"Hey, Will!" I say.

"Hey. Where are you going?" he asks, noticing my yellow and black polka dotted bikini in my hands.

"Down to the beach with Annabeth, Percy, and Nico" I reply.

"Gotcha. Well have fun! I'm going back to the shooting range for an hour or so before dinner." he says.

"Okay. I'll see you then!" I say, going into the bathroom.

* * *

When I came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, I found Nico waiting for me on the steps. He was wearing black swim trunks and black Oakley's. The best part... No shirt! I'd never seen him without a shirt on, but I'm glad I finally got the chance. His abs were sculpted very well for a fifteen almost sixteen year old. I guess it was all that training and fighting monsters.

"Hey." he says as he leans in for a kiss.

"Hey." I say, kissing him back.

"Are you ready?" I ask.

"Yep. I just passed Annabeth and Percy on my way here. I told them we'd be there in a few minutes." he says.

"Great! Let's go." I say.

So we went down to the beach and hung out with Annabeth and Percy. We swam in the Sound then came out and dried off. Well, Annabeth, Nico, and I dried off. Percy, on the other hand, didn't have to since he doesn't get wet being a son of Poseidon. After that, it was getting close to dinner so we figured that we better pack it up and get showers.

Nico walked me back to my cabin and told me he'd see me at the camp fire later tonight, then kissed me goodbye. Man, I don't think I'll ever get tired of this guy!

**A/N:**

**Well, Kyra definitely told Nico what's what. Sort of just some cute fluffiness after that.**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

Dinner and the camp fire were wonderful, as usual! Nico walked me back to my cabin after the fire and told me goodnight.

When I walked in, everyone was getting ready for bed so I went and got my pajamas and headed to the bathroom to change. After the lights went out, I got my phone out and texted my mom.

_Me: Hey, mom!_

_Mom: Honey! I'm so glad you're okay! I was worried because you hadn't called._

_Me: It's been a busy couple of days. You wouldn't believe this place mom! It looks like ancient Greece but not in ruins. And I found out that Apollo is my dad. I'm in the "Apollo" cabin with four of my half-siblings. So far I like Will the best. He reminds me of John. Oh! And you won't believe what happened today. MO IS A DEMIGOD TOO! He came over the hill this morning at dawn with a satyr by his side. He's a son of Dionysus. Just when I thought the only thing missing from this camp was Mo, here he is! It's incredible!_

_Mom: Wow. That sounds great honey! I did know that your dad was Apollo, but he told me it was safer if I didn't tell you. So I didn't. That's pretty incredible about Mo though. Somehow I'm not surprised by who his dad is…_

_Me: That's exactly what I thought! Well, I need to get to bed. I'll talk to you later._

_Mom: Goodnight honey. Love you! _

_Me: Love you too, mom_

* * *

I woke up to shouting. I sat up to see my siblings by the windows.

"What's going on?" I ask, groggily, getting out of bed.

I had had another nightmare that night and I wasn't very pleased waking up to yelling.

"We have no idea. The shouting started about thirty minutes ago and it hasn't stopped." Danielle says, one of my sisters.

"Well, who is it shouting?" I try again.

"We don't know. There's nobody out there. It sounds like it's coming from the woods though." Keegan says, one of my brothers.

I left them to stand at the windows and started getting dressed. When I was done, the shouting was _still_ going on. I head out the door when Scarlett, another sister, catches my wrist.

"Where are you going?" she asks.

"To see what's going on." I reply.

"Since nobody else seems to think that the shouting that's been going on for forty-five minutes is important." I say.

With that, I take off toward the shouts in the woods. I ended up smacking into Percy. We both fall down hard. Once we get up, he looks kind of confused as to why I was in the woods this early in the morning.

"Okay. What the hell is all the shouting about?" I ask him.

"Rachel, our oracle, has gone missing. She was supposed to get here late last night. When Annabeth went to the place where she stays, she wasn't there." Percy says.

"What does she look like?" I ask, getting a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"She has red, curly hair, fare skin and freckles, and green eyes." Percy confirms the weird feeling.

"I know what took her." I tell him.

He stops in his tracks. "What?" he asks.

"I said I know what took her. I had a dream last night. She was in it. She was coming up the hill and then the snake that had been chasing Mo came up behind her and wrapped around her." I tell him.

"Wow. Did you see where the snake went?" he asks.

"It slithered off back towards New York City." I say.

"This is _not_ good." he mutters.

We came out of the woods to find all the counselors gathered around the fountain.

"Well, we know what took Rachel." Percy announces.

Everyone started asking what had taken her at once. Percy gestured for me to tell them. So I do. When I finish, they all look very grim.

"How are we going to find her?" Leo asks.

"The best thing we can do is go to Chiron and get his opinion before we do anything else." Percy says.

We then went up to the Big House and found Chiron playing cards with the camp director, Mr. D, a.k.a. Dionysus, a.k.a. Mo's dad.

"Chiron, we need to talk to you about Rachel. We know what took her." Percy says.

So I retell my dream again. Chiron sits there for a few seconds after I was finished. He looked like he was trying to decide on something.

Finally he says, "A quest. Percy will lead four others to New York and try to find Rachel. Percy, you may choose who goes. I'll have Argus take you into the city this afternoon after lunch."

* * *

Percy chose Nico, Annabeth, me, and Mo to go with him. When Annabeth asked about Mo, he told her that Mo should have a chance to prove himself and left it at that. We all went to our separate cabins to pack a backpack and get ready. When I came in, I found Will, Keegan, and my two sisters waiting for me.

"What happened?" Will asks.

So I tell them that Rachel had been taken by the giant snake, Will already knew this but the other three didn't, and that Percy was leading a quest to the city to try to find and rescue her. I also told them that he asked if I would come with him.

"Wow" Danielle says.

"Do you need help packing?" Scarlett asks.

"Nah, I got it. I'll see you guys at lunch." I say.

They left for training and chores. While I packed, I prayed with all my heart to Apollo and all the other gods I could think of to protect my friends and I on this dangerous quest.

**A/N:**

**Just got interesting. Why do you think the snake took Rachel? Do you think it just wants her as a meal, or do you think it was ordered to kidnap her?**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25 **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

After I packed, I did some last minute training at the shooting range. Mo came and found me about thirty minutes before the lunch horn.

"Hey." I say, pulling my arrows out of the bulls eye.

"Hey. Are you ready for this?" he asks, nervously.

"I think so. Have you found a weapon yet?" I ask.

"Nope." he replies.

"Come on, I'll help you find one. Gods know you'll need it." I say.

So I get the rest of my arrows and take Mo to the tool shed to pick out a weapon.

* * *

By the time Mo found a sword as his weapon, we had just enough time to get to the pavilion to meet up with our siblings for lunch. It was cheery as usual, but you could tell something was wrong just by the campers faces. They were all a bit jumpy. I could have sworn Katie, from the Demeter cabin, was going to stab her boyfriend Travis, from Hermes, when he snuck up behind her.

After lunch, we went to our cabins and grabbed our backpacks and started up Half-Blood Hill to get in the camp van. I headed up with Mo since our cabins were right next to each other. Then, as we were walking up, a hand grabbed mine and I looked over to see Nico. Every time I look at him, I get butterflies in my stomach. I don't think I'll ever get over this guy. He seems so brooding, yet I feel compelled to learn as much as I can about him. No matter the dangers.

Argus was waiting for us in the van and once we all piled in we headed for the city. Percy ran over the plan with us. When we got to the city we'd split up. Me, Nico, and Mo were to take the east and south sides of the city. Neither Nico or Mo looked happy about how we were split up. Percy and Annabeth would take the west and north sides. We'd contact each other if anything went wrong or we found tracks.

Then at eight o'clock tonight we'd meet up in central park and go to Percy's house on the outer edge of the city. We'd continue our search like this the next day except we'd search the subway system and sewers. None of us were to psyched about that part of the plan. Then he suggested we rest because we were going to need the energy. I rested my head on Nico's chest and drifted off.

* * *

Nico shook my shoulder and I squinted open my eyes. We were in the city. As I look out my window, I feel a twinge of home sickness. The city looks like a bigger, less clean version of home. I look over at Mo and see through his facial expression that he was feeling the same way.

We went our separate ways and started the search for the giant snake and Rachel. We found our first clue in Carl Schurz Park on E End Ave. and 86th St. on the Upper East Side. The park looked like a battle ground. There were huge chunks of ground missing and many walls and benches were destroyed.

If Rachel had done this while battling the snake, I don't think I would want her as an enemy. I take some pictures and send them to Annabeth. We follow the wreckage to the edge of the park where the tracks end at a sewer entrance.

"I was _really_ hoping we'd find her today and not have to go underground." I say, partially because I hate the dark and also because we had to go into a sewer.

"You better call Annabeth and tell her where we are. It might be better if we wait for them and all go down together." Nico suggests.

"Wouldn't it just be quicker to go down now? If Rachel is down there and still alive, she's probably hurt." Mo argues. He was staring daggers at Nico.

I honestly don't understand why they don't like each other.

"I'll just call Annabeth and see what she thinks. From what I'm told, she's the best at making plans and stuff." I say, dialing her number.

Annabeth decided to go with Nico's plan and all go down together. When I told the guys this, Nico looked overjoyed that Annabeth went with his idea. Mo let out an irritated huff and sat down on a bench that hadn't been destroyed. I went and sat down next to him and Nico sat next to me. We waited for about twenty minutes when Percy and Annabeth finally came over to us.

"Ready for this?" Percy asks.

"Not at all." I admit.

Percy grins and says, "Ah, it will be alright. Just stick close. And be quiet."

We descended one by one down into the sewer and found ourselves in complete darkness.

* * *

I was the first to dig my flashlight out of my backpack, quickly followed by Percy and Nico. Once our eyes adjusted, we took in our surroundings. We were in a huge tunnel system it seemed, not a sewer like we had thought. It might have once been part of the subway system.

The first clue we got was some snake skin on the train track. I assume that the snake has been using the abandoned tunnels as a way to get around the city.

We had been walking for at least an hour, following the skin, when I hear a small moan. I tell everybody to stop and be quiet. I listen and hear it again. It was coming from a little farther down the tunnel. We quickly and quietly go towards the sound and eventually find ourselves in a huge cavern with a lot of tunnels leading off in different directions.

Tied up and thrown in a corner is Rachel. She had a huge gash on her forehead and a few cuts and bruises on her arms and legs. Her clothes were ripped and dirty like she had lost a battle with a shredding machine and some dirt. Percy went to work cutting her bonds off while Annabeth gave her some water.

We heard a slithering sound down one of the tunnels and everyone froze. Nico, Mo, and I went to the tunnel it was coming from and found ourselves face to face with the giant snake from my dream. The same one that had chased Mo and taken Rachel. We slowly take out our weapons and face the snake together.

* * *

I was sobbing. We had been battling the snake while Annabeth and Percy got Rachel out of the cavern. Mo, Nico, and I were desperately trying to keep the snake at bay while they got out. I was notching arrow after arrow while Mo and Nico were up close to the monster with their swords.

The great thing about my quiver is that it never runs out of arrows. If I lose the weapon or misplace the necklace it transforms into, it appears around my neck a few minutes later, like Percy's sword.

Anyway, we were fighting it off like crazy and I thought we were about to send it back to Tartarus when the thing lunged at Nico. He didn't get out of the way in time and it swallowed him whole. I screamed. I was devastated. I have been lost most of my life and Nico was pretty much the only person, besides Mo, who made me feel like I wasn't lost anymore. And I had just watched him become an appetizer for a giant snake.

My sadness was quickly replaced by fury. This snake had just made a huge mistake. Adrenaline rushed through my veins and I lunged at the thing. I stabbed out it's eyes with my dagger. Blood poured out of it's empty eye-sockets as it tried to shake me off it's head with no success. Mo took that as his que and started to hack at it's tail.

Then, as I was about to stab it again, it exploded into black dust. I fell fifteen feet to the ground. It was not a pleasant fall, I can tell you that. Once I blinked the stars out of my eyes, I focused on a dark shape hovering above me. I was looking into the dark eyes of Nico di Angelo.

**A/N:**

**Yay! He's not dead! Did you guys seriously think I'd kill him off? I admit, I thought about doing it but I love him too much to do that :)**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

I leaped up and tackled him to the ground. It's possible I broke some of his ribs. Mo was just standing there, a look of awe on his face. Once I pulled away I had monster slime all over me, but I didn't care. I had Nico back and that was all that mattered.

"Did Percy and Annabeth get out with Rachel?" he asks, trying to regain his breath.

"We don't know. We've been in here the whole time. We need to find our way out and find them." Mo says, getting over his shock and returning to the glare he had been giving Nico for the past couple of days.

"Yea. I'll be happy to get out of this place." I say, shivering.

Nico wraps his arm around me and together the three of us start making our way out of the tunnel.

* * *

When we finally got out, we were all thoroughly exhausted and it was dark out. I pull out my phone and call Annabeth. She said they were at Percy's house already. She wanted to know every detail about the fight with the snake but I told her I'd tell them about it when we got there.

Nico, Mo, and I hopped into a taxi and went to the house. I was overjoyed that Nico was alive. I'd have to ask him how he survived being swallowed.

* * *

When we got to the house, we paid the cabbie and headed up the steps. Instead of ringing the doorbell, we just walked in. We figured they'd be expecting us so we didn't bother. Percy's parents had already gone to bed since it was about one in the morning. Rachel was sleeping as well.

It was amazing that we had been battling that thing for so long. No wonder we were exhausted. Percy and Annabeth wanted to know what happened as soon as they heard us walk through the front door but we insisted on taking showers first. The house was huge and had four bathrooms so there was no fighting about who got the shower first. I took the one downstairs and Nico and Mo went upstairs to shower.

I don't think I ever appreciated being clean so much until I had washed all the monster slime off. I felt even better when I changed into the spare clothes I had brought. I went out and found Mo and Nico already sitting on the couch. They were both eating a snack. Percy told me I could raid the refrigerator and I gladly took his offer. I made a turkey and cheese sandwich and got a bottle of water to drink then headed back to the living room where everybody else was.

After we ate, all three of us started telling the story. Percy didn't look surprised his cousin had lived after being swallowed. When we finished telling the story we all decided to get to bed. Percy went up to his bedroom and Annabeth went into the room where Rachel was asleep. Nico and Mo stayed and camped out in the living room while I got the downstairs guest bedroom.

* * *

I was plagued with nightmares. Every dream was about the giant snake coming and eating all the people I loved at camp, then laughing in my face. To top it all off, it lunged at me and ate me. I woke up terrified quite a few times during the night.

The last time, I woke up screaming. Nico came in and found me curled in a ball on the bed, rocking back and forth. He climbed in next to me and wrapped his arms around me. It calmed me down a little bit but I was still shaken up. I eventually fell asleep. I didn't have any nightmares this time and slept the rest of the night.

* * *

When I woke up, Nico was wrapped around me. Literally. He had his arms and a leg around me. I guess the events of yesterday/last night really wore him out because when I turned over he didn't even flinch. He was cute when he was asleep. His face is peaceful, like he didn't have a worry in the world. He also snores slightly, but not loudly like Lucas does.

I swear, my stepfather shakes the house when he sleeps. I can hear him all the way downstairs with my door closed. I honestly don't know how my mom _can_ sleep.

I was still studying him when he stirred and woke up. He opened his dark eyes and looked at me. We just laid there studying each other until he smiled and kissed me.

"Good morning." he says.

This boy just melts me to the core. "Good morning." I say, smiling.

"No nightmares?" he asks.

"Nope. Not one since you came in." I say.

"Awesome." he says, grinning.

I get up and look at my phone. It was seven. I had a missed call from John._ 'That's weird.'_ I think, _'John never calls me unless he's trying to reach mom.'_ He left a voice mail so I listen to it.

"Hey Kyra. Callie and I just got back from our honeymoon. Mom called and told me you went to a summer camp. I hope you're having fun and staying out of trouble. Call me please. I need to talk to you." he says.

He sounded miserable. Maybe he finally took all my warnings about Callie being a slut seriously. I doubted it. I decided I'd call him after I ate breakfast. I was starving.

I came out of the bedroom first. Then Nico a minute later. We didn't want our friends questioning us. All we did sleep together. Wait, that sounded _so_ wrong. Let me rephrase that. All we did was _rest_ together. That's better.

I come into the kitchen to find Sally, Percy's mom, cooking blue pancakes, blue scrambled eggs, and sausages. Thankfully the sausages were sausage colored. My mouth was watering. The fact that it was blue didn't really matter because I was so hungry.

"Oh, good morning! You must be Kyra." she says.

"Yes ma'am." I reply.

"Oh, no need to call me ma'am, dear. Just call me Sally. Could you get some plates out of that cabinet for me?" she asks, gesturing to a cabinet in the corner.

"Sure!" I chirp. I was in a considerably good mood after _resting_ with Nico last night.

"Did you sleep well?" Sally asks, a hint of a smile on her lips.

I nearly dropped the plates I was carrying to the table. Did she _know_?

"Um, yea. A few nightmares, but who doesn't have those when you fought a giant snake just a few hours before?" I ask.

"Yea. I could see how you'd have a few nightmares." she agrees.

I give a silent sigh of relief. We small talked for a while until Annabeth walked in with Rachel.

"Good morning, Sally!" Annabeth greeted.

"Good morning, dear." Sally says.

"Need any help?" Rachel asks.

"Nope. I got it all covered. Would you go wake up the boys though? I think Percy could probably sleep through World War three if you let him." Sally jokes.

"Yea. I'll go wake them up." Annabeth says, giggling.

"Hi, I'm Rachel!" she says, sticking out her hand.

"Kyra." I say, shaking her hand.

"How long have you known Percy?" I ask, curious.

"Well, we first met when we were fourteen. He tried to stab me with his sword at the Hoover Dam." Rachel chuckles.

"Long story." she says, noticing my confused look.

"We met again a few months later at a school orientation and became friends. So, to answer your question, I guess about five years." she concludes.

"Gotcha." I say.

"Breakfast!" Sally yells, so everyone could hear.

* * *

After our blue breakfast feast, Sally and Paul went upstairs to get ready for work and Annabeth went to call Chiron. The rest of us went to the living room. I sat down on the couch and leaned against Nico and called John back.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey! I saw that you called." I say.

"Oh, hey Kyra! How's camp?" he asks.

I looked over at Nico and smiled. "Oh, it's great!" I say.

"That's awesome! What kind of things do you do?" he asks.

"Um, horse-back riding, art class, canoeing. We also have a camp fire with s'mores every night. It's really fun." I said.

"Horse-back riding?" John asks, surprised.

"Um, yea. The activities director thinks it's good to learn different things." I say. It's not _really_ horse-back riding. It's pegasus riding.

"Oh. Well, um, I kinda wanted to talk to you about something else." John says, nervously.

"What?" I ask.

"Callie" he says.

"Oh? What's there to talk about?" I ask.

"Well, you seem like you hate her." John got right to the point.

I sit up really fast. The others look at me, wondering what the other person on the phone had said.

"Oh, I _seem_ like I hate her?" I ask. Was John's skull seriously _that_ thick? I _despised_ Callie. Anyone who was ever with us when we were together could see that.

"Um, yea." John says, realizing he'd stepped onto a sore spot.

"John, have you _not_ been paying any attention throughout the whole engagement/wedding? I try to not be in the same room with her because I hate her so much! How can you not see that she's just a slut using you?" I cry.

"Watch your tongue! She is not a slut and she's not using me!" John yells.

"Oh yea?! Can you _seriously_ prove that John? If you can't, I can." I tell him.

"I want to see you try." John challenges.

By this time, the whole living room had gone silent and was listening to my side of the argument.

"John, I just don't want her to hurt you. I've seen the way she shows off to other guys. She wears clothes that are two sizes too small for her and struts around town trying to pick up any guy she can find. I've seen it just by walking around with Mo. I've heard her name many times being used in inappropriate ways by guys either my age or twice _her_ age. How do you not see that?" I ask him.

The line was quiet. Finally, he spoke. "I never want you to talk that way about my wife again. In fact I don't want to talk to _you_ again." Then he hangs up.

Those last words shattered my heart. My own brother just told me he wanted nothing to do with me. I put my phone back in my pocket and went outside. I needed some space. I didn't want everybody to see me cry. Mo would be okay because he's seen it before but not the others.

**A/N:**

**Talk about a burn. Man, John just seems like a huge asshole if you ask me.**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

After about ten minutes, Nico came out. I didn't care, I had already cried all I could. I felt broken. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the side of my neck. Even that, which would have usually put me on top of the world, didn't cheer me up.

It didn't help that it looked like it was going to rain. He didn't reassure me or anything. That was perfectly fine with me because I didn't know if _would_ ever be okay again with me and John. No doubt John's already called mom and told her about our conversation.

"He said he never wanted to talk to me again." I say. My voice sounded hollow, the same way I felt.

"I'm sorry." Nico whispers.

I waited a few minutes before I replied. "I just don't see how he can be so blind. She's done at least half the guys in Baltimore. I wouldn't be surprised if she's been with one of his friends either. If I didn't know better, I'd say she's an attention crazed monster. I honestly don't see how he loves her. She treats him like a piece of garbage." I spit.

Nico was about to reply when Annabeth came out and said Argus was here. We went inside and got our things, then thanked Sally and Paul. Then we all piled into the van and headed back to camp.

* * *

It was a pretty quiet ride back. Annabeth told Argus about our search and then finding Rachel and about Nico, Mo, and I battling the giant snake. It started raining, as I thought it would, which didn't improve my mood. I eventually fell asleep with my head resting on Nico's shoulder. Thankfully I didn't have any nightmares, just a pleasant, dreamless nap.

* * *

Nico woke me up and told me we were back so I got out of the van. We were welcomed as heroes. We had a feast of brisket, mashed potatoes, green beans, and tons of other delicious things. Dinner was followed by a sing along at the camp fire. It was twenty feet tall tonight and bright yellow streaked with orange. Nico held my hand all through the sing along and then walked me to the Apollo cabin before going to his. He kissed me and told me he'd see me tomorrow.

* * *

The pleasant dreamlessness didn't last.

I was back in Baltimore at John's house. Well, now John and Callie's house. Anyway, I went inside and heard this whimpering. I went downstairs and found the source of the whimpering. John was backed into a corner by an empousa, a she-demon that looks like a vampire but one of her legs is made of metal and the other is a donkey leg.

"You _will_ join me and the army!" the empousa commands.

"We will march to Camp Half-Blood and burn it to the ground! There will be no more half bloods left. Monsters will dominate the Earth!" she says.

"I don't want to! I'm not hurting my sister!" John yells.

"Okay then. We'll see how you feel after a few hours with me." the empousa says, ominously.

"What have you done to Callie you she-demon!" John demands.

"Oh, but John. I _am_ Callie." the empousa says, a.k.a. Callie.

"No! It can't be! You've done something with her!" John screeched, disbelieving.

* * *

I woke up with a start. I tore out of bed and threw on some clothes. I grabbed my phone and rushed outside. It was daybreak. I called John's house phone. It rang and rang. Eventually it went to voicemail. Then I tried his cell phone. No answer. I started to panic. If what I saw was true, John was probably being tortured because he wouldn't join this army of monsters to come and destroy the camp. This was terrible. I decided I better go tell Chiron.

I jogged up to the Big House and found Chiron and Mr. D on the porch, watching the sun come up.

"Kyra? What's wrong?" Chiron asks, a concerned look on his face.

"I need to talk to you. It's about the camp." I say.

I tell him and Mr. D about my dream. Chiron looked like he had aged twenty years when I had finished. Mr. D didn't really seem to care. Percy told me he was "grounded" here by Zeus for chasing an off-limits wood nymph. He could care less about what happened to the camp and it's occupants.

"We need to have a meeting with the counselors. Kyra go wake up Will and then start waking up the other counselors. Come back here and we'll try to figure out what to do." Chiron says.

"Okay Chiron." I say.

* * *

I went to the Apollo cabin first and woke up Will. He wasn't very happy to be woken up this early but I told him it was urgent. He got up and dressed. Then I told him that we needed to wake up all the counselors and report to the Big House for a meeting. He was confused as to why we needed to have a meeting at dawn but he didn't argue.

I then went and woke up the Dionysus counselor, Nathan, and told him to report to the Big House. Then I went to the others. Nico's was the last one. I went in and saw him sleeping peacefully. It was a shame I had to wake him up.

"Nico" I call, softly, going to his bed. He stirred but didn't wake. I call him again with the same result. I roll my eyes and bend down and kiss him. _That_ woke him up!

His eyes pop open and he yells, "Holy Hades!"

"Geez! Calm down!" I say, laughing at his reaction.

"What are you doing in here?" he asks, rubbing his eyes.

"Not that I mind, but Kyra it's like six in the morning!" he says.

"Meeting in the big house. Get dressed and come up." I say.

"Can I get a _please_ with that?" he asks, crossing his arms and giving me a stubborn look.

I walk back over and kiss him.

"Okay. That will do." he says, smiling.

"Thought so." I say, closing the door on my way out.

**A/N:**

**Getting a bit intense... Did you guys think Callie would actually be an empousa?**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

Once everybody was in the Big House meeting room, I told them my dream. It was a lot harder telling a big group of demigods than it was just Chiron alone.

When I finished, everyone was silent. Finally the counselor from the Ares cabin, Clarisse, spoke up.

"Should I wake my siblings and have them start preparations?" she asks.

"Not yet, Clarisse. We should let them save up their energy before working them hard." Chiron says.

"What should we do about the invasion? Should I get a team to fly over this general area to see if we can find anything?" Piper asks.

"The best thing we can do is wait for the time being. Later, when the campers have had a chance to wake up we'll tell them what's going on." Annabeth says.

"I agree with Annabeth. If we wake everyone up right now we'll have some very, well, unhappy campers on our hands." Nico says.

Connor and Travis Stoll, the Hermes counselors, snicker at Nico's unintended pun. Nico glares at them and they quickly shut up, finding the ping-pong table's surface _very _interesting.

"All in favor of waiting until later today, raise your hand." Chiron says.

There were only two hands that didn't go up and those were Clarisse's and the boy's from the Hypnos cabin. His didn't go up because he was asleep. The meeting adjourned and everybody went back to their cabins.

Everybody except Nico, Percy, Annabeth, Chiron and I.

"Have you tried calling your brother, Kyra?" Chiron asks.

"Yes. I tried his house phone and his cell phone. He didn't pick up either." I reply, trying to keep it together.

"Nico, why don't you show Kyra how to Iris message? She might be able to reach John that way." Chiron suggests.

"Okay. Come on Ky." Nico says, giving me a reassuring look and taking my hand.

* * *

Nico explained to me how to Iris message. I tossed in a golden drachma and said "O, Iris, goddess of the rainbow. Please except my offering. Show me John Hale in Baltimore, Maryland."

She accepted the offering. I don't think I could have been prepared in any way for what I saw in the rainbow. John was on the floor, downstairs in his house, beaten up and bloody. He had a nasty looking cut on his arm and he had several scratch marks on his face. His shirt was ripped and his chest was cut. I nearly screamed when I saw him. It was almost unbearable to look at him. He was still alive though. I could see his chest moving up and down as he breathed.

"John." I whisper to the rainbow vision.

He looks up and sees me. His eyes go wide.

"Kyra!" he whisper-yells.

"I'm so glad you're alive! You _have_ to tell me what's going on." I say.

"Callie tried to kill me. I should have listened to you. I'm sorry Kyra." he apologizes, shamefaced.

"That's not important right now. I need to ask you something." I say.

"What?" he asks.

"Do you know when the army is going to invade Camp Half-Blood?" I ask.

"The demon said on July eighth." he says.

"That's only five days away!" Nico exclaims.

"Who else is there with you?" John asks, curiously, trying to see who was with me.

"Oh. Um, Nico." I say, blushing slightly.

"Do you, my little sister, have a boyfriend?" John asks, baffled.

"Don't act so surprised John. It was going to happen sometime." I answer.

"But I thought you and Mo-" he says, trailing off.

"Me and Mo? No. We're just friends." I say.

"Oh." he says.

"Where's Callie?" I ask, wanting to change the subject.

"She left. I assume to regroup with the army." he says.

"You have to get out of there, John!" I say. I can't believe he hadn't left already with Callie gone.

"I can't. I've already tried. She bolted the doors and windows shut from the outside." John replies, miserably.

"Oi. She's not making this easy." I say, doing a face palm.

"I'll just stay here and try to stay alive. Don't call though. I don't know when she'll be leaving next." he says.

"Okay. I need to go, John. I love you!" I say.

"Love you too." he says.

Then the rainbow disappeared. I fall to my knees, sobbing. Nico comes down and hugs me close. I had held it together all through the meeting and the call with John. I had to get it out.

I eventually cried all I could. Nico helped me up and kissed me. Together we went back to the Big House to tell Chiron what we had found out from John.

**A/N:**

**I know what you guys are thinking. Kyra cries ****_a lot. _****But I mean, who wouldn't? Her brother is trapped and being tortured by his "wife", whose trying to get him to join an army of monsters to come and destroy Camp Half-Blood and all the demigods, including Kyra herself. I think I would crack under all that pressure too if I was in her shoes.**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

The next couple of days were chaotic. Everyone was training like crazy. I'm pretty sure the Hephaestus cabin is going to work themselves to exhaustion from making weapons and traps.

When I have free time, I go and sit by the docks, soaking up the sun and watching the naiads weave baskets. Usually I just listen to music and think. Occasionally I write in my journal. I try to figure out how to rescue John everyday. It's always on my mind from the time I get up to the time I go to bed.

It was July fifth. Only three days away until the army was supposed to invade the camp. I just didn't know what to do. I had thought out every possible escape plan for John, but every one ended with Callie catching him.

"Ugh!" I groan, resting my head in my hands. I had a serious headache.

"Whatchya listening to?" someone asks.

I nearly jumped into the water, the voice had startled me so much. I turn around and see Nico.

"Green Day." I reply.

"Good band. They're one of my favorites." he says, sitting down next to me.

"I'm so tired. I've been working overtime, training and thinking. I'm mentally and physically exhausted." I tell him, resting my head on his shoulder.

"I completely understand. About two years ago, before we defeated Gaea, Percy and Annabeth got sucked into Tartarus. I had to get Leo, Piper, Jason, Hazel, Frank, and a ninja satyr to the House of Hades in Epirus, Greece so we could close the Doors of Death on both sides. It was _not_ easy. Not only was it a monster infested ride there, but to top it off, everybody was miserable. We had just let two of our friends get sucked down to their funeral." Nico says.

He's told me all about the Titan war, that happened almost two years ago, and then the Giant war, that happened seven months after that. Hazel and Frank are a couple of Roman demigods that helped in the second war. Jason is a Roman demigod too, but he stayed here so he could be with Piper, his girlfriend, and Leo, his best friend.

"But you got them back. You guys saved the day. Well, you saved the _world_ actually. But I have a problem that I don't think I can fix. I've gone over every rescue plan I can think of to get John out, but none of them work." I tell him.

"They'll probably bring him here, you know." Nico says.

"What?" I ask, sitting up and looking at Nico, wide eyed.

"They'll use him as bait for you. Maybe even Mo, since he's known John for a while." he had said Mo as if his name was a disgusting glob of monster guts.

"What do you have against Mo?" I ask him, curious.

"Don't you see it?" he asks me.

I shake my head no, completely confused.

"Mo likes you! I can see it every time he looks at you." Nico says, crossing his arms and pouting.

It would have been funny except he just dropped a huge bomb on me. I had no idea Mo liked me. I always thought of him as a brother.

"Nico, I don't like Mo like that. He's like a brother to me. I've known him too long as a friend to like him like that. I like _you_ Nico." I tell him.

He looks up, surprised. "Really?" he asks.

"Really. I've never felt this way with anyone else." I say, praying to Apollo I wasn't getting to Aphrodite on him.

Nico sits there with his mouth open, completely speechless. The dinner horn blows and I start to get up, but Nico pulls me back down. He kisses me hard while wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. _That_, I wasn't expecting. After getting over my shock, I kissed him back. We pulled away from each other breathing heavily.

"I love you, Kyra." he whispers, looking at me. He was totally serious and I knew he wasn't lying.

"I love you too." I say. I wasn't lying either. I hadn't thought it was possible to fall in love in a week but I guess I was wrong.

He kisses me again, softly, not the make-out kind of kissing we had just done. Then he helps me up and we walk to dinner, hand-in-hand. I didn't have a headache anymore. Maybe I've just needed some Nico time.

**A/N:**

**Purely fluff chapter. I really hate it when girls, or guys even, don't realize that their friend likes them like that. I mean, how can you ****_not _****realize it?**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

Today is even worse than yesterday. Partly because the invasion is only two days away now and also because of the dream I had last night. It was of Callie interrogating John again with two troll looking things this time. He looked even worse than he had on the third when I had Iris messaged him. He had a split lip and his face was black and blue from being punched so many times. He was socked by one of the trolls any time he refused to joining the army. I wish I could have turned off my dream but I couldn't. I was forced to watch my brother being beaten into unconsciousness.

There were many more meetings with the counselors, but since I wasn't one, I couldn't go. Instead, Nico found me after they were over and told me what happened. It was usually the same thing every day. Fighting back and forth between each other on what the plan of attack is. I honestly think we should all follow the  
Athena cabin, because they're the best war strategists at camp, but others think differently.

Nico and I were together a lot more since our evening on the dock. He seems to trust me more now that he knows he's the only one for me. I'm terrified that he'll find another girl and leave me though. I think I'd die of a broken heart if that happened. Because I'm positive he's the one for me.

I've notched arrow after arrow in the shooting range and hit the bulls eye every time. Annabeth has taught me how to do close combat with my dagger. She's really good; I can tell she's been using one for a long time. I just now managed to beat her today. Although I think she could tell I wasn't in to it because she went easy on me. We went and took inventory of the weapons after that. By the time we were done, it was almost dinner so I went and took a quick shower.

* * *

Once dinner was over, I didn't want to go to the camp fire so I went and sat on the beach. I sat while listening to the waves. Mo came and sat beside me. He put his arm around me. I wasn't even aware he was kissing me until I pulled away.

"Mo, what are you doing?!" I shriek, getting up.

"I- I'm sorry." he apologizes, looking down in shame.

"Mo, I'm with Nico. I'm sorry, but I just don't like you like that." I say. I didn't want to hurt his feelings but he needed to know that I only liked him as a friend.

"I know you're with Nico." he sighs.

"I just had to do it because I know we'll never be together." he says, glumly.

"Did I just blow our friendship?" he asks.

"I-I don't know. Just don't do it again. If Nico ever found out about this, he'd kill you." I say, looking at Mo warily.

"Okay. I-I'm sorry, Ky. I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore." he says.

I didn't say anything back. I just stood there for a minute then started walking back to my cabin. I didn't know what just happened but I didn't like it.

* * *

I had yet another nightmare that night. This time John was on the floor, unconscious and bloody. Callie was talking on the phone with, I assumed, one of the soldiers.

"I'm not killing him tonight.-No. We'll take him as bait. Then when she can see him-Yes. Then I'll kill him. It will break her to the point where she can't be fixed." Callie cackles.

* * *

I wake with a start. I check my phone and see it's one o'clock in the morning. I couldn't stay in here. I needed to be with someone. I got up quietly and made my bed. Then I grabbed my phone and some clothes and went out the door to the Hades cabin.

**A/N:**

**Kyra, such a little rule/heart-breaker! What ****_are_**** we going to do with her?**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

I knocked on the door. I knew Nico was still awake because he still had a couple of lights on. He came and answered the door.

I rushed into his arms as soon as he opened the door. He took me inside and held me while I cried. After I was done, I told him what Callie was planning.

Nico was quiet for a few minutes then he said, "We might be able to stop her."

"_Might_?" I ask.

"Yes. There's no guarantee, but we can try to save him." he says.

I relaxed a little. "Don't leave me." I whisper.

"Never." he replies. Then I curled up in his arms and went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up an hour early before I usually do so I could get dressed and head out. I certainly didn't want to be caught in Nico's cabin. That was a big 'no no' at camp.

After I was dressed, I quietly went back to the Apollo cabin and dropped off my pajamas and went to the shooting range. Will came and found me for breakfast. I guess he could tell I wasn't in the mood to talk so we walked to the mess hall in silence.

* * *

After breakfast Mo came and talked to me.

"I'm so sorry about what I did last night. I never should have done it and I feel terrible." he blurts.

"It's alright Mo. I understand why you did it. You had to get it out of your system. I don't hate you, you just really surprised me." I tell him.

"Thank the gods! I was just so afraid I'd ruined our entire friendship when I did that. I feel so stupid." he says.

"Can we just forget it happened? I cherish our friendship more than anything in the world. I don't want it to be tarnished by something like this." I say.

"Agreed." he says.

"Good. I'll see you later today. I need to go practice close combat with Annabeth." I tell him, getting up from my table.

"Okay. See ya later, Kyra!" he called after me, a grin on his face.

* * *

I beat Annabeth! And this time she didn't go easy on me. I guess my hatred towards Callie torturing John sparked it. Neither of us were aware Percy and Nico had come down until we turned around.

"Hey, Percy!" Annabeth says, giving him a kiss.

"How long have you two been here?" I ask.

"About ten minutes. You're pretty good." Nico says, smiling.

"Not as good as Annabeth. This was the first time I've beat her. I mean, I _did_ beat her yesterday, but that was when she was going easy on me." I say.

"Still. Wanna go to the dock?" Nico asks.

"I need to talk to you about, um, you know." he says.

I knew exactly what he was talking about. He wanted to talk about last night.

"Sure. Can I take a shower first though?" I ask.

"Yea. I'll wait for you there." he says.

"Okay. I'll meet you in about fifteen minutes." I tell him.

I then go to my cabin and shower off quickly. I get dressed in clean clothes and start toward the dock.

* * *

I find Nico sitting at the dock.

"Hey." I say.

"Hey." he says.

"I think you guessed what I wanted to talk about." he says.

"Last night?" I ask.

He nods. "I want you to know that I was serious when I said that I'd never leave you. I've had too many people leave me. I know what it feels like and I wouldn't ever want to do that to somebody. Especially you." he says.

"I won't leave you if you won't leave me." I say.

"I'll never leave you. I promise." he says, looking at me.

Then we cuddled together and just sat there until the dinner horn blew. Then he walked me to the mess hall.

**A/N:**

**Yet another fluffy chapter. Damn, why do I write so many of these?!**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

One day away from the invasion. I don't think there's a word that describes how intense everything is here. We're not sure when the monsters will get here tomorrow so we set up a guard just behind the pine tree border. If any monsters come up the hill, the guard will set off an alarm to notify the rest of the camp.

All activities have been called off today so we can get ready for the battle. It makes me wonder how the campers, who have been through two wars in the past two years, ever get happy again. I mean, they've seen so much death and destruction. A lot of their friends have been killed in those wars. How do you _not_ get depressed and _stay_ depressed after all that?

I was feeding the pegasi in the stables when Annabeth came in.

"Hey." she greets.

"Hey." I say.

"So I see you and Nico have gotten pretty close." she says.

"Yea.. He makes me feel like I'm not lost." I say.

"Lost?" she asks, confused.

"Yea. My whole life I've felt like I don't belong anywhere. I feel lost. Like I'm in a foreign city and I've lost my tour guide. Well, Nico's a kind local who lights the way." I explain.

Annabeth nods. "I understand. Almost every demigod is like that. We don't fit in easily with normal people." she says.

"I think you're good for him. He's lost so many in his life that he's cared about. I think for a while he forgot how to love anything. Then you came along. He always has a twinkle in his eye now, and when he sees you his whole face lights up." she says, smiling.

I blush. "I've never felt this strongly about anyone in my entire life. I know I've only known him for about a week and a half, but I love him. I didn't think it was possible to fall in love that quickly but I proved myself wrong." I say.

"He loves you too. Did he tell you about his sister?" she asks.

I shake my head no.

"She died about five years ago. Her name was Bianca; she had just become a hunter of Artemis. She was with Percy, Thalia, Grover, and Artemis's lieutenant at the time, Zoe Nightshade. They were on a quest to save Artemis. I had been captured as well. They had just gotten through the gods' junkyard, and a prototype Talos came to life. Bianca had taken a small statue for Nico; they weren't supposed to take anything past the border of the junkyard." she says.

"Talos chased them, and Percy saw a maintenance entrance into Talos through it's foot. He was going to go, but Bianca sacrificed herself because she was the cause of it. She shut down the giant automaton and died inside. They searched for hours but couldn't find her body. It was a terrible loss. She was a good person. Nico was crushed when he found out. He was so angry at Percy because he had promised that he'd try and keep her safe. She had basically been a mother to him, since their's had died when they were really young." Annabeth says.

"Wow. That's a lot to take in. He was only ten?" I ask.

Annabeth nods.

"Wow." I say.

"He disappeared after Percy told him what had happened. Grover, Percy, and I searched for hours but couldn't find him. We found him a few months later, while on a quest in the Labyrinth. He was furious at first when we met him on a ranch. We encountered him again, but the second time he had been captured and we helped him escape. He still wasn't quite sure about us though. Then, after the quest, he showed up on the fire escape outside Percy's window. He had finally understood that Bianca's death wasn't Percy's fault and had forgiven him." she concludes.

We sit in silence for a few minutes. Then I ask what had been bugging me for a while.

"Can I ask you something?" I ask her.

"Sure. Anything." she says.

"Going through two wars, you must have lost a lot of close friends and maybe even family. How did you get out of that funk? I mean, how did you not stay depressed after loosing so many?" I ask.

She was silent for a minute, contemplating her answer. Then she says, "You can't dwell on the past. Hell, ask Leo that. He'll tell you. You just have to keep going and know that your friends and family achieved Elysium. If they didn't.. Well, then you know they weren't good people and you're probably better off without them."

"I'm sorry if that was too personal. I just.. I was just wondering. So many of the people here have seen so much death and suffering, I just wondered how they ever moved on." I say.

"It's okay. All the people I lost achieved Elysium. I know they did." She spoke with such determination that it was hard to not believe her.

"Thanks Annabeth. Not only for telling me how you dealt with it, but for being there as a friend when I need one." I say.

She looks up and smiles at me. "Any time, Kyra. Come on let's go eat dinner." she says, leading me out of the stables.

**A/N:**

**Annabeth is such a wonderful person! I don't see how hate against her even ****_exists. _****I mean, she's not perfect. She has her flaws. But she's also strong, brave, and a bunch of other great things! **

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

It was the day of the invasion. Everyone looked grim in their armor. We went to the mess hall and ate breakfast, then we waited. There were ten campers scattered around the border of the camp, keeping a lookout. The ones for the next lookout shift were Nico, Percy, Mo, Stacy, Will, Katie, Piper, Danielle, Scarlett, and me. After breakfast we went to our assigned posts and just watched.

I was stationed in a tree on top of Half-Blood Hill. I had my bow and quiver strapped to my back, ready to be taken out at a moments notice. It was a gray day past the border of camp. Perfect battle weather. Miserable. Like all the campers getting ready to fight for their home.

I was lost in thought when the alarm sounded. I nearly fell out of the tree, it startled me so much. I looked and saw tons of monsters coming up the hill. Callie was leading them, of course. In the middle of all the creatures was John being escorted by the two trolls I had seen in my dream. They were practically dragging him up the hill because he was so tired. Along with his bruised and bloody face were dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in days. I couldn't blame him. I wouldn't sleep either if I had creatures like that guarding me twenty-four seven.

I jump down from the tree and take out my deadly bow and arrows. I start shooting them at the monsters like crazy. I always hit my target. I guess it was an Apollo thing. It didn't take much training to hit every one, and I had never even _used_ a bow before I had come to camp. All the archers stayed behind the border notching arrow after arrow.

I was aware of Will beside me. I see Nico in the battle outside of the border. He looked fine, thank the gods! I hoped he stayed that way. Annabeth and Percy were fighting back to back, completely in sync with each other. I suppose if you'd fought side by side for so many years you'd know the other person's moves.

* * *

The battle has been raging on for about two hours now. We've defeated at least two thirds of the army. There's monster dust and goo _everywhere_! Callie is starting to make her way towards John. I look at Will and he nods at me like he understood.

I bolt out of the protective borders and take out my dagger. My bow and quiver transform back into the pendant around my neck. I was stabbing and disintegrating monsters left and right. I was almost to John. Then the two trolls stepped up to me, blocking my path. I knew it wasn't going to be that easy. I could barely take one but _two_.. It wasn't like the other was going to wait while I killed it's brother.

They knock me down, about to kill me then eat me. Then the best thing happened. One of them disintegrated into a black mist. The other was very confused. I took my que and stabbed it in the leg. It howls out in pain. I jump on it's back and jab my dagger between it's shoulder blades. I then hold tight to my dagger and slice down it's back. He blows up, leaving nothing but yellow dust.

I look just in time to see Callie throw a very pale John to the ground. His skin was the color of powdered milk. He had two puncture wounds on the side of his neck.

"No!" I scream.

Callie turns around and smiles a gruesome smile. She had blood on her teeth and running down her chin.

"You can't save him, dear." she says, sweetly.

"Don't call me that! I'm going to kill you!" I yell at her.

"That's what you think." she says, coldly, baring her bloody fangs.

I charge her. I was so sick of her. She had taken John away from me once, I wasn't going to let it happen again. She tried clawing my face but I ducked before she could. I stabbed her donkey leg and she cried out. I stabbed her over and over, letting all my rage out, until there was a pool of green blood surrounding us. She staggered backward and fell to the ground. I put my knee on her chest so she couldn't move.

"You pissed off the wrong demigod, she-demon." I tell her.

I jab my knife into her heart and she screams in pain. Then she crumbles into nothingness. I rush over to John. He was still alive, but just barely. I shake him until he regains consciousness.

"John! You have to stay with me." I plead, sobbing.

"Kyra." he whispers, reaching up and caressing my face.

"You can't leave. Who else is going to watch out for me and interrogate my boyfriend and drive me absolutely nuts?" I ask him.

"You-you have Mo to do that. You don't need-need me anymore, Kyra. You're all grown up." he says, shakily.

"No! No, don't say that! I'm not grown up. I still need you. I'll always need you. You're my big brother and I'm not letting you die on me!" I say, trying to control my sobs.

"Help!" I scream to no one in particular.

Piper rushes to my side, taking in the situation. I look at her with a pleading look. She helps me support him, but John couldn't get past the border until Chiron, a god/goddess, or a current counselor gave permission.

"I, Piper McLean, give you, John Hale, permission to enter Camp Half-Blood." she says.

As soon as the words left her mouth, we were able to get through the barrier. Piper calls over some of her siblings to get a stretcher for John. They carry John down to the infirmary. Piper goes back to the battle but I stay by John's side.

* * *

Once we got to the infirmary, I told Mitchell, one of Piper's brothers, to go get Chiron. He came back a few minutes later with him. Chiron told them to go back to the battle. I stayed with Chiron and John.

The centaur started taking out vials with different colored liquids in them. Some of them glowed, some were sparkly, and others looked like sludge. He finally chose a dark red liquid sludge and a glowing green one. He mixed the two together, careful not to splash any. Then he slowly started pouring the concoction into John's mouth.

"I don't know how he'll react to this mixture since he's not a demigod, but I used the least harmful medications I could find." Chiron tells me.

"I need to get back to the battle and see how things are going. I'll check back up in a while." he says.

* * *

I waited for what seemed like hours for John to wake up. He finally stirred and opened his eyes slowly. I nearly screamed with joy when I saw his colorful eyes open. I grab his hand and squeeze. He looks over at me and smiles.

"Hey, Ky." he croaks.

"Hey, John." I say, smiling.

"Where-where an I?" he asks.

"You're in the infirmary at Camp Half-Blood." I tell him.

He nods. "Callie told me all about this place." he says.

"So it's true? You're half Greek god?" he asks.

I nod. He puts a hand over his eyes and just shakes his head in disbelief. "_And_ you have a boyfriend?" he asks, incredulously.

I nod again, smiling faintly. At that moment, Nico walked in. He smiled when he saw me. I grin ear to ear. John notices this and looks in the direction I was looking. He raises his eyebrows in question. I nod looking at him. He takes his pillow out from under his head and smashed it over his face, groaning into it.

Nico chuckles. He comes over and gives me a quick kiss. Unfortunately for John, he had just taken the pillow off his head and had seen the kiss. He put the pillow on his head again and groaned louder.

"You're _kissing_ too? Ugh. I think I'm going to be sick." he says from under the pillow.

Nico and I both laugh at this.

"Nico, can you go get Chiron and tell him John is awake?" I ask.

"Sure." he says, grinning.

"Okay. I need to change the subject." John says once Nico had left.

"Who's your dad?" he asks.

"Apollo. God of the sun, archery, music, poetry, prophecy, and medicine. He also likes art." I say.

"Wow. That's amazing Kyra!" he exclaims.

"Nico's dad is Hades." I say.

John's eyes widened. "The god of the Underworld? You just kissed the son of the Underworld?" he asks, incredulous.

I blush. "Yea." I say, dreamily.

"Whoa." he says.

He was about to say more when Chiron came in, thankfully in a wheelchair, with Nico behind him.

"I need to help the wounded, but I'll come back in a while." I tell John.

"Chiron, can you um, please not go full size?" I ask.

"I don't think John needs anymore shock. I'm just going to check him out then let him rest for a while. Zeus knows, he needs it." Chiron says.

"Thanks, Chiron!" I say, going out the door with Nico's hand around my waist.

**A/N:**

**Oh, brotherly love. My brother would probably just try killing my boyfriend if I had one. Lol!**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

There were many wounded but nobody died. That's the good thing. The bad thing was that I had to call mom. Not fun. I was not looking forward to that. After I helped treat the wounded, I went and got my cell phone and sat on the beach.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, mom." I say.

"Hi, honey! How are you? Have you heard from John lately?" she asks.

"Um, he's actually here. At camp." I say.

"What?!" she exclaims.

I then told her the whole story. About Callie being an empousa and nearly killing him by sucking his blood, Chiron healing him, and the biggest thing, Nico.

The line was silent for a minute. Then she spoke. "Is John okay?" she asks, quietly.

"Yes. He's resting right now in the infirmary. He'll have to stay here for the night to rest but Nico said he'll shadow travel him home tomorrow after breakfast." I say.

"Okay." she says.

"Oh, and mom?" I ask.

"Yes?" she asks.

"Please don't lecture Nico tomorrow." I say.

"I know he wouldn't even _dream_ of hurting me." I tell her.

"Okay, dear. I've got to let you go. Tell Chiron my thanks." she said.

"I will mom. Love you!" I say.

"Love you too, honey." she replies.

Nico comes and sits next to me in the sand. He wraps his arms around me and hugs me close.

"You did great today." he tells me.

"You did too. Thanks by the way, for killing one of those trolls." I say.

I could feel him smiling into my hair. "Well, I couldn't very well let the girl I love be eaten by trolls, could I?" he asks.

It was my turn to smile. "No. I don't think you could." I say.

We stayed there for a while. Me in his arms, watching the waves lap at the sand. It was possibly the best moment yet with Nico.

* * *

After everyone was asleep, I got up and took my smallish pull string backpack and put some clothes in there for tomorrow. Then I silently snuck out of my cabin and went to the Hades cabin.

I knock on the door and Nico answers. I go inside and curl up on the bed. Nico lays down beside me and turns off the lamp. We would probably get punished severely if we were caught, but I was willing to take the risk.

* * *

I woke and got showered and dressed before Nico got up. I woke Nico and told him where I was going, then I went to the Big House. I went inside and found the room John was staying in. I knock on the door and he tells me I can come in.

"Good morning, John!" I say, happily.

"Morning, Ky." he says, cautiously.

"Um, why so chipper this morning?" he asks.

"Oh. I'm just happy you're alright." I reply.

Not that I wasn't happy he was alright, but the real reason I was so "chipper" was because I had stayed in the Hades cabin last night. There's just something about sleeping in Nico's arms that puts me on top of the world.

"Oh. What time is breakfast?" he asks, satisfied with the answer I gave.

"Right now. That's why I came and to get you. Nico is taking you to mom's after breakfast." I say.

"Aren't you coming?" he asks, getting his shoes on.

"No. He's only strong enough to shadow travel one person." I say.

"Shadow travel?" he asks, confused.

"Oh, yea. Sorry. Nico can travel through shadows since he's a son of Hades. He just has to picture where he wants to go and it takes him there. Since he's been to mom's, he's taking you there. Just a warning though, it's really cold, pitch black, and you feel like you're going a million miles a second. Don't let go of his arm either." I say.

John's mouth was hanging open. "Okay. Um, can we go eat? I'm starving." he says, still stunned.

"Yea. Come on." I say.

Together we head down to the mess hall.

* * *

Saying goodbye to John was hard, but I held it together somehow and told him I'd see him in a month. Then he and Nico dove into a shadow and disappeared. I went down to the archery range for class with my cabin mates and the Athena cabin.

I was so happy John was home. Everything was right in my world again. I had Nico, mom, Lucas, John, and all my friends and siblings at camp. What else could I ask for?

**A/N:**

**One more chapter guys! It's sort of an epilogue, I guess you could say.**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan

* * *

Today is the last day of camp. It's been a wonderful month and a half here. Nico and I are going to shadow travel to my house. I'm really going to miss everybody until next year when I come back but I'm really excited to see everyone back home again. I can tell Mo is excited about getting to go home too.

I'd never tell Nico this, but I feel kinda sorry for him. He doesn't have a mother to go home to. He can stay here at camp but it's not the same as going home to your family. I mean, yea he can go to the Underworld and stay there, but from what I've heard, Hades is a real grump and Persephone hates any of the children her husband has had with mortal women. I can't really blame her though. I would hate it too if my husband had affairs with women. Who wouldn't?

I had already packed and said my goodbyes. I had my duffle beside me while I was on the dock watching the naiads weave their baskets. I felt someone walking down the dock towards me. I look over my shoulder and see Nico. He comes and sits down beside me.

"Ready to go?" he asks me.

"Yea." I say, smiling and looking at him.

"I love you" I say.

"And I love you." he says, kissing me.

"I don't think I'll ever tire of that." I say, pulling away.

"What?" he asks, confused.

"Kissing you." I say.

"Me either." he says, grinning.

"Come on." he says, getting up and giving me a hand.

I look one more time at the naiads, until I see them again next year, then we dive into a shadow.

**A/N:**

**Ta-daa! Cute little fluff at the end :) I hope everyone enjoyed it!**

**XOXO,**

**Mrs-diAngelo25**


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